U.S. Worried About Outer Space Security

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A newly unveiled U.S. strategy aims to enlist other countries to
help safeguard national space assets against both hostile threats
and orbital space debris.

The National Security Space Strategy directs the Department of
Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
on how to follow the country's National Space Policy, which was
announced by the president last June. It is the first such
document co-signed by the secretary of defense and the director
of national intelligence, said Gregory Schulte, the deputy
secretary of defense for space policy.

"Space becomes critical to everything we do, and that’s why we're
worried that the environment is increasingly challenging,"
Schulte said. "You have more debris in space and you have
countries that are developing counterspace capabilities that can
be used against us."

The space strategy emphasizes not only the ability to survive and
operate in an increasingly dangerous space environment, but also
the need to protect that space environment as well as the
country's industrial base which supports space launches and
operations.

"The National Security Space Strategy represents a significant
departure from past practice," said Robert Gates, U.S. secretary
of defense. "It is a pragmatic approach to maintain the
advantages we derive from space while confronting the new
challenges we face."

Both the National Security Space Strategy and the National Space
Policy reflect a policy shift in response to a "fundamental
change in the nature of space security," according to Brian
Weeden, a technical adviser for the Secure World Foundation, an
organization dedicated to the sustainable use of space. That
change comes from recognizing the dual threat of anti-satellite
weapons and the growing cloud of debris surrounding Earth.

The new U.S. stance also goes beyond the days when the U.S. and
the Soviet Union faced off in the space race, or when the U.S.
enjoyed sole superpower status with few other countries operating
in space. Now there are almost 60 different commercial companies
or countries that own or operate assets in space.

The crowded future of space means many more possibly competing
interests acting in the same region – a scenario ripe for
conflict or misunderstandings.

"The problem now, which the U.S. military has said multiple
times, is that space is the Wild West," Weeden told SPACE.com.
"Outside of a few existing treaties, it's pretty much do whatever
you want."

Part of the solution to that problem comes from setting some
rules. The U.S. space strategy throws its weight behind a
European Union proposal for a code of conduct in space, which
would define responsible behaviors and best practices for
space-faring countries.

Getting such agreement is also crucial for the encouraging
commercial development and innovation in the growing space
industry, Weeden pointed out. Clear rules allow companies to
develop their business plans for commercializing space and to get
a better sense of the long-term profits and risks.

"Establishing some sort of norm of behavior is a necessary part
of enabling the long-term sustainability of space for military,
scientific and commercial purposes," Weeden said. "But that alone
is not sufficient."

Making space safer

The U.S. Strategic Command has also struck deals with 19
companies to share space situational awareness data, and has
signed similar agreements with certain countries. Having a
broader shared awareness allows the U.S. to better monitor the
growing crowd of satellites and other space assets — perhaps
avoiding repeats of satellite collisions.

Indeed, the first such satellite collision resulted in the
destruction of a U.S. Iridium 33 satellite and Russia's spent
Cosmos 2251 communications craft, which added to the space debris
that has already threatened both the space shuttle and
International Space Station.

The U.S. space strategy also aims to defuse the possibility of
hostile action by boosting international cooperation. In that
spirit, the Department of Defense plans to preannounce space
launches so as to avoid the swirl of uncertainty and paranoia
from other countries.

Such "transparency and confidence-building measures" have already
been applied on international issues such as nuclear security,
but could take a bigger role based on the U.S. space strategy,
Weeden said.

The Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base,
Calif., is also expected to become a "combined center" that
allows for more international participation.

An equally important step comes from the Department of Defense's
interest in sharing satellites or other space assets with other
countries. A hostile country might think twice before destroying
a satellite used by three or four other countries and thereby
invoking their collective wrath, Weeden explained.

The U.S. and Australia have already partnered to expand the
Wideband Global Satellite Communications constellation, and the
U.S. is seeking similar cooperative opportunities with other
countries.

Sharing space assets among countries also helps the U.S. during a
time of budget deficits and expected budget cuts. The Department
of Defense has begun talking about hosting payloads on commercial
satellites in the "budget-constrained environment," Schulte said.

Such steps make sense from a budget standpoint and because of the
U.S. military's difficulty in having new space assets delivered
on time and on budget, according to Weeden.